Hundreds of animals were rescued from the Woolsey Fire over the weekend, taking refuge from the inferno that has ravaged portions of Ventura and Los Angeles counties since Friday.

The Hansen Dam Equestrian Center in Sylmar, took in more than 300 horses Sunday, Nov. 11, along with dogs, donkeys, ponies, sheep, chickens and one pig.

The fire has burned more 83,275 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, claimed two lives and injured three firefighters. It was declared 10 percent contained on Sunday as firefighters said rising Santa Ana winds present new threats.

And now I’m at Hansen Dam Equestrian Center in Sylmar where there are 313 horse evacuees who are staying here. There are also 4 dogs, 15 ponies, 3 sheep, 1 pig, 8 donkeys, 6 goats and 4 chickens. pic.twitter.com/yoraUE1PMi

Picasso, a large brown horse who just found a new home with Christina Evoniuk of Hidden Hills, restlessly knocked on his stable door.

“I think they’re pretty hyped up because there’s a lot going on,” Evoniuk said. “They’re in a new place, it takes a while for horses to settle down. I’m sure as heck not going to ride him yet.”

And I think I may have found the alpacas who were tied to the lifeguard tower at Zuma Beach that @VarleyPhoto saw on Friday. An LA County Animal Services official said it’s most likely the same alpacas, but is waiting to hear back from their owner if they are pic.twitter.com/v42YNhFbDI

Late Thursday night, Evoniuk had to take Picasso and Freckles, a horse she’s leasing, to a corral in Hidden Hills for the evacuation.

She could see the fire creeping closer in the distance as she and her family walked the horses to the corral, where volunteers with trailers were loading horses to bring them to evacuation centers like Hansen Dam.

“Some people who were far away had to walk their horse kind of far, because Hidden Hills is pretty big,” Evoniuk said. “But people did it and rode them to there. They had trailer after trailer, trying to keep people’s horses together. Everybody just pulled through.”

Kathy Collins and her family, who have lived in Agoura Hills for 20 years, also had to make late night escapes from the fires. After leaving their home on Friday – which they thought would be the last glimpse of it – they retreated with their horse, Killion, and donkey, Billy, to Malibu.

But it wasn’t long until the flames followed them to Malibu.

“It’s nerve wracking for these guys because they’re uprooted from their situation,” Collins said. “But I can’t tell you how accommodating (the volunteers) have been.”

It’s difficult to evacuate your horses if you don’t own a trailer, Kathy said.

“It’s amazing, the people who volunteer with trailers,” she said. “They work through the night relentlessly, they’re just nonstop. They are true heroes.”

The Collins’ were able to go back to their home last night and were relieved to see that their home is safe, for now. But some of their friends and neighbors weren’t so lucky.

“There’s nothing more to burn, we hug the national park, but it’s been burnt,” Kathy said. “It’s just the houses that can pick up and catch.”

Stanley the giraffe, who had not been evacuated from Malibu Wine Safaris, seemed to be doing ok on Sunday, according to comedian Whitney Cummings, who posted on Instagram after checking on him.

At Hansen Dam, other animal evacuees include four dogs, 15 ponies, one pig, three sheep, eight donkeys, six goats, four chickens and four alpacas – most likely the ones seen in published photographs tied to a lifeguard tower at Zuma Beach, according to LA County Animal Care & Control spokesman Danny Ubario.

Over at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, there were 224 horses, 27 goats, 16 dogs, 10 cats, 15 mini horses, eight ponies, one tortoise, one pig, six sheep, two donkeys, two mules, 27 goats, two cows, six guinea pigs, three chickens and one rabbit – which was dropped off Sunday morning by some Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies who saw it limping on the side of the road.

In the American Red Cross evacuation center at the Pierce College gym, many people who slept on cots also had their animal companions with them. Many said that the only things they grabbed while leaving the fire were their pets, money and other vital items.

But not everyone took their animals. In Canoga Park, Los Angeles Police Department officers heard an abandoned dog barking in a backyard.

LAPD checks Crabapple Court, then surrounding streets. Everyone has evacuated, but a dog barks in one of the yards. They pass on the address of the home with a dog.Flames smolder on the hill above the cul-de-sac. pic.twitter.com/ySg2OnUEko

These two evacuation centers were still full as of Sunday, but others are taking animals: Antelope Valley Fair Grounds is taking horses still, Lancaster, Palmdale and Castaic are taking cats and dogs. Castaic also takes small wildlife.

Emily covers education and development for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. A native of Long Beach, Emily is an alumna of the Cal State Long Beach Journalism Department. Prior to joining the Press-Telegram, Emily was city editor of The Capistrano Dispatch in San Juan Capistrano, a contributing writer for the Orange County Register and the news editor for The Edge in Long Beach.